Countdown
by SSAEmilyHotchner
Summary: Oneshot. It's almost the New Year and the BAU decides to have a little fun at the Hotchners' house. Romance/Friendship/Family/Humor.


Author's Note: HAPPY NEW YEAR! Well, almost. Three days and thirteen hours 'til, on my side of the world. But anyway, that's pretty much what this story is about. The team gets together for a party at the Hotchner's house in order to ring in the New Year. Must I go on? Hope you enjoy, and I hope 2011 is amazing for you all! :)

Disclaimer: Gosh darn, I wish I owned it.

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Emily glanced at her reflection in the large bedroom mirror, carefully slipping in her diamond teardrop earrings. "Are you sure I look okay?"

Aaron looked up at his wife, his breath immediately catching in his throat. Her chocolate brown hair was pulled up into a loose bun, with a few escaping tendrils framing her face. The navy blue dress she was wearing seemed skin tight, accentuating her finest assets, and her black stilettos made her shapely legs look even longer than they already were.

She looked _amazing._

He came up behind her, peppering kisses on the back of her exposed neck. "You…look…so…unbelievably…sexy."

She turned to face him, giving him a wicked smile. "So do you," she whispered lustily, handing him his suit jacket. "I hope this party will be a success," she mused.

"I'm sure it will. It's New Year's Eve, Emmy. What could possibly go wrong?"

"Well, we did put mistletoe in practically every corner of the house…"

"That's just so I have an excuse to kiss you in public," he said smartly, shooting her a less-than-subtle wink.

"Since when did you need an excuse?" she teased.

"Good point. Speaking of which…" He brandished a small velvet jewelry box from his pocket. "I got you something. Consider it a token to celebrate our first New Years together."

"Aaron…" She gave him a soft smile. "You know you don't need to give me gifts. _You're_ enough."

He smiled back. "I know, I know. But still…" He handed it to her. "Here."

She gasped quietly as she opened the box, revealing a silver necklace adorned with citrines, opals, and pink tourmalines. "It's so beautiful…"

"They're our birthstones," he pointed out. "Pink tourmalines for you, citrines for me, and opals for Jack."

She nodded. "I noticed." Securing it around her neck, she leaned forward and gave him a long, deep kiss. "I love it. Thank you so much, Aaron."

"Don't mention it." Grinning like the Cheshire cat, he finished with, "Now, let's have ourselves a party."

~.~.~

"More champagne?" Emily asked, approaching Morgan, Garcia, and Rossi.

"Don't mind if I do," Dave replied, muttering a "thank you" as she filled his glass and watching as she did the same for the two others.

Morgan tossed her a perfect smile. "Damn, Princess. Who knew you could clean up so well?"

"Seriously, Em. That dress is gorgeous," Garcia agreed.

"You guys are too sweet," Emily responded with a smile of her own.

"Hey, I have an idea," JJ said, coming out of nowhere. "Why don't we play a round of 'never have I ever'?"

"_No_," Reid immediately said as he approached the group, eventually followed by Aaron and Will. "Absolutely not."

"Oh, come on, kid. Is this about the 'Never have I ever read two or more books in a day' thing a couple months back? For the record, Emily and Will had to drink, too."

"I feel like I'm being mocked every time we play," he ground out.

"We all do, kid. That's just how it works," Morgan interjected. "I'm in."

"I'm not so sure about this…" Emily said, eying Reid and nodding. "'Never have I ever had sex before I graduated high school,'" she remembered. "Really, Jayje? That was the most obvious thing ever."

JJ chuckled. "All is fair in love in war, Emily. You should know that by now."

"Well, I'm not playing if it's going to get dirty. Which is the way you always play," she added with a smirk.

"Don't be a poor sport, Emily," Dave teased. "Are we going to play or not?"

There was a chorus of agreements, and Emily, glancing over at Aaron briefly, finally relented.

"Oh, alright, alright. But you're going down, Jennifer Jareau."

~.~.~

"Let's see…never have I ever kissed someone of the same sex," Dave began.

No one drank.

"Oh, Rossi. That was _way_ too easy." Garcia paused. "Hmm…now, mind you, I had quite the rebellious youth, my parents being hippies and all, _but _never have I ever done drugs," she said, smirking when Emily sighed and took a drink.

_"Here we go,"_ she grumbled.

"My turn," Reid announced. "Never have I ever...oh, seen any of the _Twilight_ movies."

Emily, JJ, Garcia...and Will took another drink.

Garcia giggled. "_Will? _What's the story here? You Team Edward or Team Jacob?"

The Louisianan groaned. "It's all _her_ fault," he said emphatically, pointing at JJ. "She dragged me along."

JJ snorted. "He's Team Jacob, if you must know."

Chuckling, Morgan cleared his throat. "Alrighty. Never have I ever slept with anyone in the office."

Emily burst into laughter. "That is _such_ a lie, Derek Morgan."

"Now, now, Emily. I said the _office_, not the FBI," he differentiated, winking. "Now _drink._" Dave, Emily, and Hotch uttered a collective sigh, and did just that.

Hotch narrowed his gaze, thinking of what to say. "Hmmm...never have I ever…had a one night stand," he said, directing it towards Dave, but laughing as Emily, JJ, Garcia, Will, and Morgan drank from their glasses as well.

"I'm going to be so wasted by the time this is over," Emily said frankly, causing Aaron to chuckle heartily and throw her a brilliant smile.

Will looked around. "Okay…never have I never gotten so drunk that I passed out."

Garcia slowly raised her glass.

"Finally. Something I haven't done," Emily praised. "And now it's my turn," she added, shooting JJ an evil grin. "Never have I ever kissed my significant other in the middle of the bullpen for the world to see."

After taking a sip of her champagne and watching Will do the same, JJ arched her eyebrow. "Oh, yeah? Well, I can do you one better. Never have I ever _had sex with a colleague in the office during working hours. _Beat that!"

The others burst into laughter and wholehearted applause as Emily and Aaron blushed furiously and quickly took their drinks.

"That was low, Jayje. Even for you," Emily said, grinning nonetheless.

The blonde shrugged. "I know. But it was _so_ worth it."

~.~.~

"Come on, Reid! Give me a kiss," Garcia teased.

"It _is_ tradition…" Emily said with a smirk.

"No, it's not!" the boy genius argued. "It has nothing to do with you, Garcia," he assured. "I just don't like engaging in public displays of affection."

"Then we could always go somewhere private…"

This caused Reid to redden even further. "Mistletoe is such a pointless idea."

"No, it's not," Dave countered. "It gives me the perfect reason to do this." And with absolutely no fanfare, he leaned forward and kissed Emily deeply.

She pulled away immediately. "I ought to slap you," she chastised, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

"As long as I get to choose the spot," he winked.

"Alright," Aaron interrupted. "Before things get too rowdy – and dare I say, naughty – in here," he glared pointedly at Dave, "I'd just like to announce that there are approximately thirty more minutes until the New Year."

They erupted in cheers. "I think now would be a perfect time to propose a toast, don't you think?" Emily asked the others, her gaze resting on Aaron.

He nodded. "I agree. And if no one's objecting, I'd like to start." He held up his glass of champagne. "With this year came many new beginnings, yet many ends, as well," he said, glancing over at JJ and remembering her resignation. "Despite some hardships that we've had to fight past, we persevered. Because of that, I just want to thank all of you for all the help and support that has been given. Each of you means so much to me, and to everyone else around you. But…I just want to take this moment to say that this year has been the best of my life because, three months ago, I finally got to marry the woman of my dreams." He turned towards his wife. "I love you so much, Emily. You're the greatest blessing I could ever ask for."

Emily walked up to him and pressed a gentle kiss against his lips. "I love you more," she whispered, a smile gracing her fine features.

JJ couldn't help but smile at the two. "If I may, I'd like to add something to the toast."

"Of course."

She cleared her throat quietly. "Transferring from the BAU was hard, to put it lightly. It was probably the hardest thing I've ever done. Not just because of the job itself, but because of the relationships we've developed. It's hard to give that away, especially when you consider certain people to be…well, family. Because that's what we are. Granted, an unbiological one, but we work the same way. So…I guess what I'm trying to say it that I couldn't have picked a better group of people the ring in the new year with."

"You know we feel the same about you, buttercup," Garcia said sincerely. "Everyone loves you."

"Everyone loves everyone," Morgan corrected with a grin.

"I know," JJ said with a laugh, resting her head against Will's shoulder.

"So…I've got a New Year's resolution to share," Morgan said.

"Let's hear it," Garcia coaxed.

"Our New Year's resolution should be to stick together, as friends and as a team. We shouldn't let anything come between us. And well, to put it frankly, another one would be to catch more unsubs."

"Save the world a bit more each day, right?" Reid asked, grinning slightly.

"Exactly."

"Sounds good to me," Emily commented.

And the others couldn't help but agree.

~.~.~

The eight of them were crowded around the TV, watching the newscaster broadcasting live from Times Square, when they heard soft footsteps coming down the hall.

"Daddy?" Jack Hotchner asked, entering the room quietly. He rubbed his eyes, obviously still half asleep. "Mommy?"

"Hey, buddy. What are you doing up so late?" Emily asked, circling her arms around the boy as he sat on her lap. "It's almost midnight."

"I wanted to see the ball drop," he explained, motioning towards the television.

"Hey. I've got a great idea," Aaron suddenly said. "How about this: Next year, around New Year's Eve, why don't the three of us take a little trip to New York, so we can actually be there when it drops?"

Jack's eyes widened. "Really? That would be so cool!"

"It would be," Emily agreed with a smile. "And that sounds like a _great_ idea."

"Then I'd get to kiss you exactly at midnight," Aaron whispered, shooting her a wink.

"Is that not a bit too romantic for you, Aaron?" Dave teased.

"Way to insert yourself into our conversation," Emily snorted, pushing him away playfully. "Besides, Dave, I happen to know that Aaron can be a very _passionate_ man. If you catch my drift," she added, lowering her voice in an almost seductive fashion, and causing Aaron to laugh heartily at his friend's expression.

Dave's response was interrupted, however, by the words they had been waiting hours to hear from the news correspondent.

"And the countdown begins…now!"

Excited faces glanced at each other as the last ten seconds of the year ran down on the clock.

"Ten…nine…eight…seven…six…five…four…_three, two, one! Happy New Year!_"

As soon as the ball dropped and cheers erupted all over the world, Aaron reached forward and brought Emily in for a long kiss, conveying to his wife just how much he was looking forward to spending a new year with her, as a happily married couple.

And a happy new year it would be. All three hundred sixty-five days of it.

THE END.

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Author's Note: I hope you all have just as much fun ringing in the New Year with your friends and family. :) Please feel free to leave a review, if you have time. It would definitely make my day!


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